tornado
nounverbattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//tɔː(ɹ)ˈneɪ.dəʊ//
- United States//tɔɹˈneɪ.doʊ//
A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.
noun
- 1
A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.
An extreme version of vorticity is a vortex. The vortex is a spinning, cyclonic mass of fluid, which can be observed in the rotation of water going down a drain, as well as in smoke rings, tornados and hurricanes.
Some of the same areas hit by tornadoes just a little over a week ago are expecting severe storms again Monday afternoon and evening. […] A multiday severe weather outbreak is possible Monday through Wednesday, increasing the already-above average tornado count even higher.
Etymology
From earlier English ternado, attested since the 1550s as a nautical term for a windy thunderstorm. From Spanish tronada (“thunderstorm”), from tronar (“to thunder”), from Latin tonō (“to thunder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂- (“to thunder”). The o and r were reversed in English (metathesis) under influence of Spanish tornar (“to twist, to turn”), from Latin tornō (“to turn”).
verb
- 1
figurativeTo sweep through something violently.
And so on Friday nights, James Torin tornadoed through six beers, a carton of cigarettes, a coffee table littered with lottery tickets, and unrequited dreams.
They come every night, those cavernous trains, tornadoing the frozen house, a madness feeling for the door.
Forms
- plural
- tornadoes, tornados
- past tense
- tornadoed
- past participle
- tornadoed
- present participle
- tornadoing
- third person singular
- tornados
tornado · A violent wind in the form of a mobile, rapidly rotating, funnel cloud that has contacted the ground.
toro · A traditional Japanese lantern.Toro · Oldsmobile ToronadoToronto · The capital city of Ontario, Canada and largest city Canada.